9 Years Ago Today, the Best Action Movie Franchise of the 21st Century Was Confirmed (& It’s Getting Another Sequel)

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Keanu Reeves is widely known as a kind person and a consistently engaging actor, but like all actors with a long career, he’s experienced both highs and lows. He had some early successes in the 80s with films like River’s Edge, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Parenthood, though not everything he did was a hit – The Prince of Pennsylvania and The Night Before weren’t as well-received. He then became known for action movies with Point Break, but faced criticism for roles in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Much Ado About Nothing. However, looking back, it’s clear that action films have consistently revitalized his career. Point Break in 1991, Speed in 1994, The Matrix in 1999, and more recently, John Wick in 2014, all helped boost his success.

Unlike many action movies with complicated premises, John Wick has a simple story: a man gets revenge for his dog. That’s exactly what it was advertised as, and that’s what the film delivers. The original trailer and ending even suggested it would be a standalone movie, with John potentially finding peace. However, three years later, John Wick unexpectedly became a full-fledged franchise – and that turned out to be a great thing.

How Did Viewers Respond to John Wick: Chapter 2 and What Comes Next?

The main difference between the first John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2 is the story’s focus. While the first film was about Wick seeking revenge for a personal wrong, the second expands the world by exploring the rules and debts within the assassin community. This time, Wick isn’t driven by personal vengeance, but by an obligation to help someone else.

The expanded sequel was effectively promoted, and it was obvious audiences still loved the first John Wick movie, whether they watched it on streaming services or owned it on DVD or Blu-ray, because ticket sales jumped significantly. The original John Wick was made with a relatively small budget of around $30 million, earning $43 million in the US and another $43 million internationally. This proved it wasn’t just popular with American audiences.

Wow, three years after the first movie, John Wick: Chapter 2 really blew up! It only cost around $40 million to make, but it earned a huge $92 million domestically – more than double what the first one did. Internationally, it almost doubled its earnings too, bringing in about $82 million. Seeing those numbers, it was obvious the John Wick movies could become a long-running, successful franchise, and that’s exactly what the studio wanted!

The movies continued to become more successful, with the third film earning over $150 million worldwide more than the second, and the fourth (which appears to be the last one) making about $119 million more than the third. Because of this clear success, it’s easy to see why Lionsgate wants to continue the series, even though the recent film Ballerina didn’t perform well financially.

The key question is whether the new film feels like a natural next step in the story. John Wick: Chapter 4 was designed as the conclusive ending, and it definitely comes across that way. It would have been more compelling to continue Eve Macarro’s story, as Ballerina concludes similarly to John Wick: Chapter 2 – with the entire assassin underworld now focused on her and a substantial bounty on her head.

The best path forward is to title the next film John Wick: Chapter 5, while featuring the character Macarro in a supporting role. This would satisfy fans of Ballerina and encourage those who haven’t seen it to check it out. Interestingly, Ballerina‘s biggest problem was forcing John Wick into the story. While it made sense to try and attract a larger audience, it didn’t work and made the film’s ending feel awkward at times.

I think a storyline where Wick helps Macarro would actually work really well in the next movie, Chapter 5. His big conflict with the High Table feels pretty resolved – the fighting’s done, and most of the soldiers are either gone or dead. Faking his own death to help her escape her problems could be his main goal in the fifth film, and honestly, it’s a much better direction than some other ideas I’ve heard. He clearly has some kind of connection with her – he’s worked alongside her, and he obviously feels something for her, or he would have just killed her when he was originally ordered to by The Director.

What direction do you hope the John Wick movies take in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments and discuss it with other fans in the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-02-10 21:42